Daejeon Korean BBQ restaurant for tenderloin: Worang Myeongga

Worang Myeongga Daejeon Doan Branch says it serves premium hanwoo (Korean native beef), selected and aged mainly from female cattle aged 30 to 40 months. As a butcher restaurant, you can see the meat for yourself, choose the cuts you want, and enjoy top-grade 1++ hanwoo at a reasonable price; there are also plenty of side dishes and accompaniments that pair beautifully with the beef. The butcher-restaurant table setting fee is ₩4,000 per person.

Tenderloin and chuck flap, chosen in person

These are the cuts I picked at Worang Myeongga. I considered choosing an assorted platter, but ended up filling two trays with tender tenderloin and savory chuck flap. Both were premium domestic beef.

As soon as you walk in, there is a large butcher counter. It is packed with meat, and just looking at that glossy pink fresh beef made it look so appetizing~ Choose what you want with your own eyes, and they bring it to your table.

Private rooms and space for group gatherings

There are 17 private rooms. I came with my husband, but it would be hard to find a better spot for a family gathering or work dinner. It is spacious and comfortable enough for up to 200 people, so make a reservation for an event or group dinner. I had reserved ahead and was shown to a room; there were lots of staff members, and everyone was kind.

From grilled hanwoo to meals and wine

Beyond grilled hanwoo, they sell lamb and daechang (beef large intestine), plus marinated galbi, beef sashimi, yukhoe (seasoned raw beef), and beef brisket. There are meal options to have alongside your meat, as well as galbitang (beef short-rib soup) and hanwoo gukbap (Korean beef rice soup), which I recommend for lunch! It is a great place for a truly filling meal. You can choose a dessert after grilling, and they sell wine, too.

A table setting to rival a Korean set-meal restaurant

After choosing our meat and returning to the room, everything had been set out with the beef. There was salad, myeong-i namul (seasoned wild garlic leaves), dressed vegetables, white kimchi, ssamjang (savory dipping paste), garlic, and wasabi—perfect partners for grilled meat.

The sample sashimi was tender and pleasantly chewy. A quick dip in cho-gochujang (sweet-tangy chili vinegar sauce), and it was absolutely delicious. They did have sashimi as an à la carte menu item, but we ate just the two trays of grilled meat that day, so I will come back for sashimi next time.

Cheonyeop (beef omasum) and fresh myeongran (pollock roe) also arrive. It was my first time eating pollock roe raw, and dipped in sesame oil, it was nutty and popped in my mouth. If raw roe is not for you, grill it on the hot plate.

The bright yellow, pudding-like steamed egg was incredibly soft and simply melted away.

A soup also arrives in a ttukbaegi (earthenware pot)! I do not know the exact dish name, but it felt like beef and ugeoji greens soup. It was generously filled with ingredients and even pieces of beef, so the texture was wonderful; the broth was nutty yet clean-tasting, and I kept reaching for it.

Spicy marinated raw crab is another included side dish. It seemed like the grown-up kind of marinated crab! It was seriously delicious. The white kimchi, which looked like it belonged at a Korean set-meal restaurant, was crisp and refreshing, too.

One of my personal favorite side dishes was the salad on the right. I think the dressing may have been made with tangerines—it was sweet and tangy with a full tangerine fragrance, exactly my taste! Every dish felt carefully made, and I was so pleased with the spread that my return-visit intention is 200%.

The side dishes were so good that it is hard to introduce every single one. My husband is crazy about japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), and even the japchae was delicious! For a ₩4,000 per-person table setting fee, this many side dishes puts Korean set-meal restaurants to shame, does it not? Haha.

Hanwoo tenderloin that disappears with just salt

We grilled the hanwoo tenderloin while picking at a side dish or two. I agonized over which meat to choose, but I wholeheartedly recommend the tenderloin.

With a little dab of salt, it disappeared in my mouth. I may be exaggerating a little, but the tenderloin slid away before I even had time to chew..

From now on, when I want steak, I am coming here. It is so, so, so much better for the price! The texture was truly tender—I could only marvel.

Personally, it was best with only a little salt. Since the side dishes are so good, though, it is also lovely paired with the various accompaniments.

Juicy hanwoo chuck flap

This is hanwoo chuck flap. I was deciding between chuck flap and hanging tender, then chose this. Chuck flap has a little fat, so unlike the tenderloin, its juices come flowing out when grilled.

At first I cut it into pieces, but later I just ate it in big bites without cutting it.. Slightly chewy yet tender as its baseline texture, savory and bursting with juice—this chuck flap was insane.

Personally, I recommend hanwoo chuck flap with wasabi. It was not the kind of wasabi that stings your nose, so I thought it paired even better with the grilled hanwoo! The two of us were full from the meat and wondered what dessert to have.. but we thought dessert might make the trip home difficult, so we passed on it.

Self bar, ice cream, and parking

The initial side dishes were so generous that I did not use the self bar separately, but if you need ssam vegetables or mushrooms, use the self bar near the entrance. There are also fruit desserts such as pineapple, oranges, and cherry tomatoes, so help yourself.

I remembered a neighbor who had visited Worang Myeongga telling me that the dessert ice cream here was really good, so I tried one.. Maybe they use a good base, because it did not taste watery at all—it was sweet, milky ice cream! You can take care of dessert here without going elsewhere for a second stop.

Takeout and reservations are available; group seating is for up to 200 people, while rooms accommodate a minimum of 6 to 24 people. There are separate restrooms for men and women, as well as high chairs.

You can park in Worang Myeongga's ground-level lot or the underground lot behind the store's main entrance. It is free for 3 hours. I parked above ground because there was space; if the ground-level lot is full, I think you can just head straight underground! Haha.

Worang Myeongga Daejeon Doan Branch is where you can enjoy premium hanwoo at a reasonable price. It is a butcher restaurant where you choose the meat yourself, and a standout Doan-dong spot with plenty of amenities—great for a family meal or bringing along older family members, and of course for gatherings and work dinners, too. Now I understand why everyone kept saying, “Worang Myeongga, Worang Myeongga.” It is near Gapcheon Ecological Lake Park, so it is also a nice place to eat after a visit to the park!